What is bodhicitta?

Bodhicitta is often translated as the awakened heart — the wish that all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering, and the commitment to help that wish become real.

On the tour we speak about bodhicitta in plain language: as compassion that begins close to home and extends outward, without requiring any particular belief.

You may hear the monks describe bodhicitta as the reason the mandala is created, taught, and dissolved — each gesture offered for the peace of all beings.